In the Face of Death
by kodachi2
Summary: This girl that Kurama meets at the library has weird spirit energy. After she tells him about her dream, he is sure she's related to the enemy in some way.
1. In the Face of Death

Zetsumei no Omakage - In the Face of Death  
  
Shuichi Minamino was walking down the street to his local library, his red hair swishing from side to side with each step. He opened the door quietly so that those already inside wouldn't be disturbed. He waved a silent hello to the librarian and walked toward a book shelf. On his way there, he saw a girl cooped up over a book with her hands on her temples. He recognized the book as their biology text at school and took a seat next to her. She didn't bother looking up, for she was so frustrated that she didn't really care if she shared a table with someone.  
"Excuse me, do you need some help?" he asked.  
"Oh! Well, I just don't seem to get this plant biology," she said raising her head up for a moment to look at Shuichi.  
"I can help you if you like. I believe we use this book at my school," he said, using his hand gestures to ask if he could see the book.  
"Well, if you see it this way." he started to explain, and the girl moved her chair a little closer to him so that she could get a good look at the book  
  
".that's all there is to it," he said as he closed the book. When he turned around to hand it to her, he had noticed that he had the clearest view. He coughed slightly, and, taking the hint, she moved back with a scarlet blush.  
"Thanks so much. It's a lot clearer now," she said, taking the book from him.  
"It was the least I could do," he said. He caught a glimpse of the clock behind the girl and gasped. Suddenly, he jumped up and started to run out of the library. The girl ran out after him, and eventually caught up to him.  
"I didn't get your name," she said.  
"Shuichi Minamino, and yours?" he asked.  
"Zetsumei Omakage," she said shyly.  
"Um. Shuichi, I was wondering whether you would like to go to the dance with me" she asked while staring down at her book. Shuichi squirmed a bit at his loss of time.  
"It's okay if you don't want to because of my powers," she said avoiding eye contact. "Powers?" he asked. "Never mind," she said as she started to walk away. "No, tell me," he said, grasping her shoulder lightly. "Well, I have the power to kill instantly," she said slowly. "Look at that tree over there," she continued, pointing at a tree across the road. After a moment, the tree started to wilt rapidly until nothing was left. Shuichi stood still, then after a few minutes turned toward her. She was already at the end of the street waiting to cross, but he ran after her. "Let me show you something," he said taking her hand and dragging her back to the tree that she demonstrated on. "Watch," he said. She stared at the tree, and as she did so, the tree started to grow back until it looked as if it was never dead. "You have powers too," she stated, wide eyed. "Yes," he said with a slight smile. After a few minutes of silence, Shuichi said, "Yes, I think I would like to go with you to the dance."  
"Okay then, I guess I'll see you later," she said waving goodbye as she turned to walk down the street again.  
On his way back home, Shuichi contemplated on the girl.  
She has powers over death with means that she definitely has spirit energy, but why couldn't I sense it? He perused over it a while, then turned down the street to his house. It dawned on him that he had missed his meeting with Koenma and the other Reikai Tentai. He started running in the other direction in hopes of getting there in time for him to apologize.  
  
Eventually, he got to the outer court of Koenma. "Kurama, here for an appointment with Koenma," he said into the microphone. The door opened slowly, and he ran in. Several ogres dodged him as he stampeded toward the prince's office. He burst into the room to find Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Botan, and Koenma all staring at him in what can be best described as astonishment. "Arigatou! I'm sorry! I helped a girl in the library and I lost track of time!" he explained. "Well, Kurama, you are excused. The long and short of it is that there is a mysterious power strong enough to tear the portal between the worlds open big enough for every demon in Makai to get into Ningekai. We have tracked down a demon in league with this power, and I want you four to interrogate him. It won't be easy," Koenma stated as he got onto the top of the table. "When will we depart?" Kurama asked. Tomorrow night." 


	2. Chapter 2: At Your Bedside

This is just an inbetweenie chapter. If you don't want to read something with no action, just skip it. Nothing important happens here, but I suggest you read it anyway. Toodles.  
  
At Your Bedside  
  
Zetsumei Omakage sank into her bubble bath. It was yesterday that a handsome redhead had helped her in the library and then agreed to go to the school dance with her. As she sat there, he was all that was on her mind.  
He wasn't like other people. He didn't think I was a freak. He even had powers too.  
She put together a mental picture of him as she stared at the ceiling. She recalled how his fragrant red hair fell slightly over his face and ears. His green eyes were the kindest she'd ever seen. His build in general was muscular, but not overly so, as he put his hands in the pockets of his pants.  
Suddenly, something hit the window and disturbed her thinking. She got up to see what it was to find that a bird had rammed itself head on into the window.  
"Dumb birds," she said as she returned to the bath. After only a few minutes, something else hit her window. She got up angrily, finding the bird's timing very annoying. She thrust the window open, in an effort to warn any other foul nearby that her window was a crash-free zone, to find that she was staring into the chest of a person, a rather hurt person. She looked up and saw that the person was Shuichi.  
"Shuichi!? What are you doing here?! You're bleeding all over?!" she said as she helped him over the window sill. She took him into her room, and sat him on her bed. She walked out for a moment and came back with a long white wrap and some rubbing alcohol.  
"Stay still," she said as she bent down to tend to his broken ribs. Next, she dressed the wounds on his shoulders, arms, and legs. After this was done, she sat up and stared at him.  
"May I ask why you are looking at me?" he said.  
"You don't seem like the kind of person to get into reckless fights, but that seems to be the only way you could have gotten those bruises. Don't lie to me, because the skin over your ribs has the clearest imprint of a knuckle. What happened?"  
Shuichi was caught between a rock and a hard place. How would he explain that he was a Reikai Tentai, or the fact that there is a whole other world, talk less of two, beyond this one?  
"You know, Shuichi, I'm not one to pry into others business. If you ever decide that I need to know, you can tell me, but I won't force you," she said as she stood up. Shuichi heaved a sigh of relief. Sooner or later he'd have to tell her, but sooner was not the option he wanted to choose.  
"Lay down or you'll stress your muscles," Zetsumei said, and, after seeing him struggle to lie down without pain, helped him.  
"Well, let me drain the bath water and I'll come and keep you company," she said as she turned to leave the room again.  
After a few moments, she walked back in with a medium sized fox at her heels. It was an orangish-red color, with golden eyes and a tail to match. Shuichi turned to look at it and Zetsumei said quickly, "He's just a weird breed of dog."  
"I do believe that's a fox," said Shuichi, raising his eyebrow.  
"Oh, okay. He is a fox, but please don't tell anyone. I don't think it's legal," she said desperately.  
"You don't tell anyone about this, and I won't tell anyone about your pet," Shuichi said.  
"He's not my pet, he's my friend; my only friend, as odd as that sounds. He listens and comforts me when I don't feel up to scratch. If that's not a friend, I don't know what is," she said as she sat down on the carpet, the fox in question jumping into her arms.  
"Well, I'll listen and comfort you, if you like; I'll be your friend also," he said softly. Zetsumei blushed slightly, not because of his words, but because the manner in which he said them was so sweet that it was almost embarrassing to her.  
"Thank you," she said quietly. After this, there was a long pause.  
"Can you hand me that book? It's right there when you stretch your hand out," she asked. Shuichi did as she said and came upon a book with a title called, What's This Guy Like?  
"The one beside it," she said. He handed her the book, and she opened it. He took out the other book and started to read it. He looked up his appearance in this book. He browsed through blonde and brunette until he came to redhead. Under that, he looked for green eyes. When he found it, he began to read.  
Red hair, green eyes: These guys are quite violent and are very skilled at fighting. However, they have their softer sides, but usually only around their significant other. They can also be classified as outrageous or explosive. When dealing with these guys, just go with the flow, and you're sure to have fun. But beware; these guys can also get you into serious trouble.  
"Do you think that I'm anything like what they say I am?" he asked her after pondering a bit.  
"Honestly, no. You're very peaceful and not outrageous at all. As for the way you act around your significant other, I just wouldn't know," she said still staring down at her own piece of literature. He cocked his eyebrow at her, but said nothing.  
It was about an hour before anyone spoke. In this time Shuichi, had shelved the book, and fallen asleep. She took her eyes away from her book for a moment to steal a look at his face. She put her book down and crawled to his bedside. She rested her folded arms on the bed and laid her hands upon them. He looked so innocent, so sweet. His red hair was sprawled all over his face and she gently wiped hem away from his face. After a while, she fell asleep also. Shuichi woke up and looked around him, before he saw Zetsumei sleeping on the edge of the bed. He looked at her with a soft smile. Her eyes fluttered open to find that he was staring at her. "Was I drooling or something?" she asked, wondering what she had done to earn his gaze. "No, you were just being pretty, that's all," he said, taking the covers off of himself, and getting off of the bed. "You're still not healed yet," she said, beckoning him back to the bed. "I have a friend who can help me. Thank-you," he said as he gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she asked worriedly. "I'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow then. Is 6:30 alright to get you?" he asked. "Yeah, I'll be ready," she nodded happily. "Bye, Zetsu," he said at her doorstep. "Bye, Kurama-fox," she waved.  
  
How did she know my name is Kurama? And how did she know I was a fox demon? Does she have mind reading powers? All these questions popped into Kurama's mind as he proceeded to walk down the street toward his house. 


	3. Chapter 3:Light on Your Feet

Zetsumei was looking at herself in her mirror. It was the night of the dance, and she wanted to look her best for Kurama. She quickly put on her earrings and smoothed out her short, flowing green dress when she heard the door bell ring. She opened the door and motioned Kurama in. He merely stood there in awe. She was so beautiful with some strands of her brown hair falling over her ears and her light green dress floating above her knees.  
"Shuichi, hello!" she called as she waved her hand in front of his face. He snapped back to reality and walked in.  
"Hold on a second. I'll be right back," she said as she went to her room to slip on her high heeled white shoes.  
"Okay, I'm ready," she said pulling him off the couch. They started to walk down her street toward their school. He kept staring at her, and she started to blush. She had to look the other way to hide it.  
It was only a minute or two before they got to their school, and as soon as they went in, girls all over left their dates to try and entrance Kurama into a dance. There were few girls who didn't have an interest in Kurama, and by few, I mean that you could count them with one hand and still have fingers left over. In school, he had bigger fan clubs than the movie stars did. If you can imagine a kindergarten class in a room with a puppy, you can understand the situation.  
"I have a date, and I intend to stay with her," he told them all, but not one gave up. Zetsumei was surprised that out of all of these pretty girls, Kurama had chosen her to go with, and better yet, he hadn't asked a pardon to dance with any of them.  
"Would you care to dance?" he asked. She nodded, and they walked toward the dance floor. Unsurprisingly, Kurama danced very well, and she told him so shyly. One of the envious girls brushed by Zetsumei hard, bumping her into Kurama. They were nose to nose now, making the envious girl turn an even more red shade of scarlet. They stayed there almost frozen, neither one of them knowing what to do. Suddenly, a swarm of fans approached, shattering the moment. Kurama was caught in the crowd. He clung tightly to Zetsumei's hand so that he wouldn't lose her, but he couldn't hold on forever. He could feel her hand slowly leave his, leaving something in its place. He called her name, but she couldn't have possibly heard him.  
A short while later, he was able to break away from the crowd. He opened his fist for the first time since the other girls had ganged up on him, and found a little note. Come by later if you have the time. He went outside to look for her, and when he couldn't find her, started to run toward her house. Halfway there, he found her walking slowly by herself. He caught up to her and called her name.  
"Oh, Kurama, it's you," she said, turning around to see him.  
"Why did you leave?"  
"I'm not used to being near so many people, and I didn't want to panic and kill them all," she said softly.  
"I understand," he said. When they reached Zetsumei's house, she thanked him for the wonderful evening, what small part she had experienced, anyway.  
"Before you go, take this," he said softly. He motioned his fingers awkwardly, and a strange green flower emerged in his palms. He placed it in her hand and she thanked him sincerely.  
"I can't make things nearly as beautiful with my powers, but I think I know exactly what to give you," she said. She kissed him lightly on his lips and dabbed some of the pollen from the flower on his nose. Then she walked up to her door, opened it, and gracefully entered.  
"Goodnight, Kurama," she said before closing her door. When she had closed it, Kurama took the pollen from his nose and wrote letters on her door with it. K+Z Forever After looking at it for a moment he wiped it off and left down the steps in from of her house. 


End file.
